This post was updated Aug. 28 at 7:11 p.m.
As UCLA football gears up for its second year under coach DeShaun Foster and second season in the Big Ten, Daily Bruin Sports will preview the personnel of each of the Bruins’ position groups and predict their 2025 outlook prior to the season’s official start. Assistant Sports editor Gabriela Garcia will continue the series with a dive into the squad’s special team.
Personnel
Special teams, special players, special plays.
In a season full of growing pains and rebuilding, UCLA football’s special team unit shone and executed.
Kodi Whitfield completed his first year as the team’s special teams coordinator, and he helped spearhead junior kicker Mateen Bhaghani’s breakout 2024 campaign – the placekicker went 20-for-24 on field goal attempts, notching an 83.3% field goal percentage alongside a perfect 20-for-20 on PAT attempts. Bhaghani led the Big Ten in made field goals and tied for 11th in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Bhaghani also scored the second-longest field goal in UCLA history on Nov. 7 against Iowa, when he kicked a 57-yard attempt through the uprights. The 2025 Lou Groza Award Watch List honoree – an award given to the best placekicker in the country – was the team leader in scoring last season with 80 points. Bhaghani is the first Bruin named to the preseason watch list since JJ Molson cracked the list in 2018.
Redshirt junior Salem Abdul-Wahab was the primary long snapper for Bhaghani the majority of last season and went without a mishandled snap the entire season.
Abdul-Wahab could have some competition heading into his final campaign at the Rose Bowl since coach DeShaun Foster secured the commitment of Halakilangi Muagututi’a, the No.1-ranked long snapper in the nation according to 247Sports. Foster also brought in transfer redshirt freshman Morrow Evans from Ohio State, who is fresh off a national championship-winning season. Evans was ranked the No. 2 long snapper in the 2024 class by Chris Rubio.
Brody Richter, UCLA’s primary punter last season, transferred to Minnesota after just one season in Westwood. Richter averaged 42.8 yards per punt and totaled 1,712 yards.
Foster went to the transfer portal to fill the void Richter left and picked up junior punter and Tulane transfer Will Karoll. As the team’s starting punter for two years, Karoll averaged 43.3 yards per punt and racked up 3,594 yards on 83 attempts. Karoll was also part of Prokick Australia – a program that trains punters – in high school.
Lennox Miller rounds out the punting unit. Miller was ranked as the No. 20 punter in the 2025 class by ESPN. He accumulated 1,245 yards, averaging 36.6 yards per kick on 34 punts in his final high school season.
With the departure of Keegan Jones, who took care of the Bruins’ kick return duties last season and posted 20.9 yards per return, Foster will need to find another player to assume the role.
The Bruins will also need to replace the departure of Logan Loya – who averaged 11.2 yards per punt return.
Whitfield’s special teams coordinator stint in Westwood only lasted one season since he departed for Stanford following the end of the 2024 campaign.
As of now, Foster hasn’t named a new coordinator.
Predictions
UCLA football will most likely rely on Bhaghani once again after a stellar debut performance with the team. The San Diego local boasts the potential to lead the Big Ten in field goals once again.
Karoll will likely take over as the primary punter given his collegiate experience, winning the position battle over Miller.
I see Foster using running backs and wide receivers interchangeably to figure out who will be the kick and punt returners. However, I expect junior wide receiver Mikey Matthews to take the punt returning mantle. The California transfer handled 33 combined returns at Utah in 2023 and Cal in 2024. His speed and slim frame should make him a dangerous and elusive returner for the Bruin specialist unit.
Additionally, I expect fellow Cal transfer and junior running back Jaivian Thomas to return kickoffs. While the tailback lacks experience – he didn’t handle any kick returns in two seasons at Cal – his speed, versatility and ball protection skills suit the role.
Though the Bruins should take advantage of home field when at the Rose Bowl, they may struggle with environments and conditions at fellow Big Ten schools.
Although UCLA takes on Penn State in Pasadena this year, the Bruins will still have to face the reigning national champions, Ohio State, at Ohio Stadium in November, which could be an immense challenge due to the atmosphere and adverse weather conditions.
The Bruins are also slated to take on the Hoosiers at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, which has long been heralded as one of the loudest opposing environments in the country.
Regardless, there is talent in the special teams room once again, and the unit has previously shown that it can fire on all cylinders.
Now it is up to them to showcase how they will perform once UCLA enters its non-conference slate.
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